Orchid
by Cap't-0609
Summary: Captain America and Black Widow begin their mission for S.H.I.E.L.D. Part 3 in the series The Indoctrination of Steve Rodgers.


BAM!

Steve was snapped out of his daze by Natasha slamming a packet that contained the details of their mission on the table in front of him. Steve jumped a little as he came back to reality and the war room that he and Agent Romanov where currently occupying.

"Cap. Are you paying attention to any word I say or is this dress too short to keep your attention on the project at hand?"

"Umm…," Steve was too befuddled to speak. Natasha was a beautiful woman but she just was not the woman that had captured his attention and quite possibly his heart that morning as she simply walked by. He could not help but think of her, but his duty should be taking a higher priority.

"My apologies, ma'am. Please continue with the overview of the mission."

"Like I was saying," Natasha said as she turned her attention away from Steve and back to the interactive monitor that occupied an entire wall of the war room.

"Our mission is a simple extraction. If you believe that term 'simple' truly means harder than hell and just as difficult to get out of. Our target is Marius Seidel, he is believed to be a scientist whose concentration seems to be genetics for Hydra," Natasha continued talking but the mere mention of Hydra had made Steve's breath catch in his chest. He had hoped the Hydra was destroyed when the war was won but he could never bring himself to ask the question. Hydra had stolen everything from him; Peggy… Bucky… his entire life had been turned upside down by Hydra and what they stood for. Steve instinctively stiffened his jaw and drew his right hand into a fist while his whole body tensed; every muscle in his body was tensed with an intense saturation of adrenaline. He could not help but think of the fire and the torture that he had seen when he rescued Bucky from a Hydra hideout and then to lose Bucky so soon after was almost unbearable. The only way Steve was able to function was to bury the pain as deep as he could and pray that he could delay dealing with what had happened to Bucky for just one more day.

"Alright, to recap, we break in- grab Seidel – break out- and hopefully not die. Any questions, Cap?" Natasha questioned.

"When do we leave?" Steve asked.

"Right now," Black Widow replied with a smile finding its way to the corners of her mouth.

Captain America dawned his uniform in the room the Nick Fury had prepared just for him. He was surrounded by images of his face and the early work he had done encouraging America to buy war bonds. There were pictures of Peggy, Howard Stark, and of course, Bucky. There were pictures of their childhood in Brooklyn and off at war. Steve's heart twinged when he looked at the smiling pictures of himself and Bucky. They were so young back then and they had no idea what the war would do to them or take from them. The war had changed both of their lives and there was never a way to go back to the friendship of the two young men in that picture. It was the worst pain that Steve had felt since watching Bucky drop off the bridge. Steve's eyes began to water and prepared to cry over the many losses he had suffered both before and after the ice. At that moment came a knock outside of his door and Natasha's voice telling him that they were airborne in five minutes. _No time_, Steve thought to himself as he choked back the tears and the emotions that sprung them. Now it was time to be Captain America. Now it was time to fight for justice. Steve pulled on his left glove to complete the outfit and grabbed his shield on the way out the door without so much as a glance in the mirror to make sure everything was in place. His identity was no longer sacred. Steve Rodgers and Captain America were one and the same and the only thing that Hydra had not taken away was his life and he was not afraid to lose that for the cause. Freedom was not free, there was always a price.

The five minutes had expired as Steve made his way to the plane to join Natasha and the extraction team. Steve began his ritual before entering into a mission, he prayed. _Father, I ask for your protection for myself and my team. Please help us enforce truth, justice, and the American way. Help us be compassionate in the face of hatred and provide options to our enemies that they would never provide for us. Let us be the light of truth and hope in the darkness. If we are harmed, please allow us quick passage into Your loving arms. Keep them safe, Father. I cannot lose another man. Amen. _Steve ended the prayer as he entered the plane and took his seat next to Natasha.

"You ready, Cap?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Alright. Just to recap since I know that you have had a hard time paying attention today," Natasha teased, "We have a team of eight and one agent on the ground. That agent has posed as a member of Hydra and will serve as our infiltration point in order to extract Seidel. The agent's code name is Orchid". Steve smiled in spite of himself. Fury always loved his unique code names yet they were oddly telling of that agent's personality. For example, Natasha's code name was Black Widow and she lived up to it in every way when she had to. Steve had heard stories of her days in the KGB but he had never asked Natasha herself about her past because he knew that she carried the scars from what she had done all those years and he would never want to cause her any pain. Natasha had grown to be his closest friend and maybe his only friend since he still kept her at arm's length. While the other Avengers had gone back to their lives after New York; Natasha and Steve had nothing to go back to. They had been paired together as partners by Fury and they found an offbeat sense of comfort in one another as partners. Every once in a while, Natasha could get Steve to smile that smile that he wore in the pictures with Bucky and made Steve forget about his fear and pain for a while. He hoped that he did the same for her but Natasha wore a mask that Steve was not able to see through just yet.

"We meet Orchid at the rendezvous and from there we will be led secretly into the base," Natasha continued, "The goal is to get into the base unnoticed to prevent loss of life, ours of Seidel's. Once we are in the underground base we will extract Seidel and meet back with the plane and bring him back to S.H.I.E.L.D. to begin interrogation." Natasha stopped briefly to ensure that Steve was looking at her, "There should be no causalities, Captain".

"Thank you, Natasha," Steve replied. He was deeply touched that she had given so much thought to preserving as much life as possible. Natasha smiles in return, Steve did not know if that meant your welcome or if there was a more sinister part to her plan that she had yet to reveal. The eight other members of their team sat silently as the approached the drop off. Steve moved to the back hatch and looked out the back of the plane, waiting for the right moment to jump. Finally, the plane was at optimal height and location, Captain America held both arms and stepped off the back of the plane. He flew towards the ground at a terrific speed. This was his calm; it reminded him of his motorcycle: the wind in his face, the whooshing sound of the wind, and the way his mind seemed to quiet. He took the shield from his back and used it to land onto the Earth below. Behind him, Captain Rodgers could hear the rest of the team landing behind him in the woods. In front of him, stood a figure whom he believed to be Orchid.


End file.
